


Sephiroth Week 2020

by Illusioneery (Arkee)



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Aftermath of Unethical Experimentation, Dealing With Your Schrodinger's Cat Of A Former Nemesis, Human Experimentation, Implied Angeal/Genesis and their longing for Sephiroth, Laboratories, M/M, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon, Rescue, Ruins, Slice of life (sort of), Slightly Crack At Points, Untagged Background Relationships, You Don't Know Where It's Going And Neither Do I
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27169588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arkee/pseuds/Illusioneery
Summary: Sephiroth and Genesis explore the ruins of Deepground, to locate and rescue someone who Sephiroth isn't quite ready to see and deal with again.
Relationships: Genesis Rhapsodos & Cloud Strife, Genesis Rhapsodos & Sephiroth, Genesis Rhapsodos/Sephiroth/Cloud Strife, Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Comments: 26
Kudos: 158
Collections: Sephiroth Appreciation Week - Yearly Event





	1. The Cat In The Box (Specimen)

**Author's Note:**

> It begins OwO
> 
> To be honest, though, I really have no idea what I'm doing with this one. But it's definitely going somewhere and I hope it's enjoyable! Happy Sephiroth Week, everyone!

"Are you still sure you want to go down there?" Genesis asked him. "There's still time to back away, you know? After all, he was the one who—"

"Yes, I'm aware of that. He did it three times. It's seared into my soul by this point."

He chuckled, but the sound of it was slightly off; a little anxiety showing its colors during their exploration of the place, though Sephiroth would refuse to admit it. It could've been an eternity since then, but still. Walking through areas so full of medical equipment —  _ abandoned medical equipment _ — never failed to do a number on him on the inside.

"I know that you're aware. What I mean to say is that, once awake again —  _ if _ we can get him to wake up, that is — he'll try again, Sephiroth. And he  _ will _ succeed if he tries."

"Of course. That's what he does," he nonchalantly spoke of the matter, "Then I die, and it'll happen again and again and again. Maybe this time he'll even keep something of mine as a trophy, I believe. It wouldn't be so bad. A proof of my existence for the museums and all that. Not that I really want the fame."

"Sephiroth,  _ please. _ I'm trying to show concern for your well-being here."

"Hn. I always thought you reserved that for Angeal only, after all that happened. And yet, here we are."

Genesis let out a dramatic sigh.

"You're insufferable. Is this, by any means, some sort of revenge for Loveless? Hitting the bits where it hurts worse?"

_ That _ of all things stole a little smile from Sephiroth. A little  _ maybe. _ But that  _ really _ was Sephiroth, so it was likely to be part that and part dodging the concerns of others about himself… albeit in a somewhat twisted way. A wounded wolf trying to bite when poked right in his wounds. Fair enough, but still—

"Bastard," Genesis mumbled under his breath, with a little touch of poorly disguised fondness.

Sephiroth had approached the door to the next chamber and pressed a hand against it, gently. Even under his gloves, the metal felt cold. It was falling apart at the edges and somewhat rusted, as most of the underground structure seemed to be after that long, but it still held itself up.

Unlike the rest of the city.

Unlike him.

"So are you," he mused aloud, "and you know it. The two of us are bastards... Unlike him."

"Who? Your murderous cat inside the box?"

Sephiroth shook his head and simply said, "No, Angeal."

Another sigh.

"You speak of me but you hold him on a pedestal way more than I do, you know that? He…  _ our _ Angeal… could be a bastard, too, when he wanted. Sometimes a sneaky one at that. A soft bastard."

Genesis was pretty sure that he heard Sephiroth mumbling "our Angeal" under his breath before trailing off to process what it could've meant. He itched to explain his point about that, but thought that Sephiroth wouldn't believe him even if that bit of extra information was presented to him. So he left it at that and forbade himself from thinking once more that, had things not fallen apart as spectacularly as they did, he could've sat down in his living room at Shinra back in the day with Angeal and Sephiroth both and possibly arrived at a pleasant agreement about what he wasn't explaining directly now.

He focused on the fact that Sephiroth and him were deep down into the ruins of what used to be Deepground, instead.

And that they probably shouldn't be, but Sephiroth insisted on coming and opening the box; to discover if the cat inside was alive or dead. Or severely traumatized and ready to kill someone.

"I miss Angeal," Sephiroth said, "I wish he was here."

_ If he was, _ Genesis thought,  _ would there be a cat inside the box to be found? _

"Me too," he agreed, instead, "I miss him every day."

Sephiroth had to tear the door down, just like many others on the way. The rust eating away at them made the things troublesome to open normally, even for him. And if he stopped to open them the regular way, he would hesitate.

He was already troubled enough about it that he had to ask.

"What would anyone do to Cloud for him to be down here?"

"Guess."

"But Hojo was dead long after my last revival—"

"Wrong guess. But warm. Try again."

Sephiroth stared at him a little dumbfounded, but tried to think. That was Deepground and he had been down there a few times, under Hojo's supervision. To test things that would disrupt other people's work if tested in the building above. Things that scarred his spirit. Genesis had also been there, he had told him, kidnapped by the rebellious Tsviets and asked to "participate". Asked to offer his cells to them so they could—

"Someone else tried to clone him…?"

_ What for? _

"Bingo," Genesis smirked, "I still don't quite know what for, but if I had to guess... Well, he killed you. When there's someone who can kill a certain Sephiroth in the world and when said Sephiroth is a threat to said world, you have to make sure that certain someone continues existing somehow, you know?"

"That's… idiotic. His clones wouldn't be him. He had to be himself to manage what he did. I don't think it would have worked otherwise."

"Oh. You put him on a pedestal, too. I see."

"I was merely stating the truth as I know it. It wasn't a matter of his strength or ability, but a matter of the technique he used. His capacity of adapting and improvising can't be copied."

"If you say so. But your eyes do sparkle when you speak of him, old friend. I stand by my point, still." Genesis took to leading before continuing, "I only found out because his clones started showing up dead in a few places. And especially now that you came back, it became possible to trace his location."

"Oh… Lucky me," Sephiroth mumbled sarcastically, a little distracted by the conversation, despite the horrifying nature of the topic. After all, he had been to the labs before as basically a lab rat through a significant portion of his life.

He never wished the same on anyone.

But Cloud… Cloud had somehow ended up that way as well, more than once, aside from all the poking around in his mind that Sephiroth himself, along with Jenova, ended up doing.

Hence why, among several other reasons, Sephiroth froze in place when his eyes landed on the mako tube containing him; probably the only truly preserved thing in that entire laboratory.

He didn't look a day older than the last time they fought, aside from his wild, long hair. Sephiroth stared him up and down; his mind a thousand miles away from there, from the scars on that body, mainly those in the center of the chest.

_ I don't put you on a pedestal, _ he thought to himself.

_ I never put you on _ this  _ pedestal, I— _

"...Sephiroth?"

_ It's Hojo and his legacy who put people on these pedestals. I know it, because— _

"Sephiroth, are you listening to me?"

_ He put me on a pedestal. _

"Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth blinked slowly once Genesis stood in front of him and pulled him down a little — because somehow, Sephiroth had returned from the dead even taller than he was before — to keep him from looking too much at the mako tank; to remind him to breathe.

Not that he had forgotten how to breathe. It was more that his breathing had gone all over the place with that sight.

If they all went back in time, that could've been him; staying in the tank for a solid two weeks because Hojo had been dissatisfied with his performance on tests. Grounded in the mako to reflect about his failures.

“Do you… do you want to wait outside?” Genesis asked, a little hesitant, “I definitely can handle—”

“No. It’s… it’s fine, I just… I just— Ah. Let’s just get him out.”

At that, Genesis just stared at him for a few, but far too long seconds before letting go with a sigh and turning to face the cause of their… visit. Would the mako still be fully liquid in there? Or would it have started to solidify by that point? He wondered. Wondered but didn’t let himself get distracted by such thoughts; moving fast to compensate for Sephiroth’s stiffness.

The machines, unlike the doors, could no longer be operated normally. So breaking the glass it was.

Breaking the glass and watching that wild cat fall right into Sephiroth’s arms, trembling like a fish out of water.


	2. Home of Uncertainty (Lost)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at home, Sephiroth feels at a loss about the future

Genesis did to him what he had once done to Sephiroth; he took him home, wrapped on a heavy blanket. Landed on the third floor, brought Cloud inside. Asked Sephiroth to prepare the bathtub, knowing that both it and the tubulation would be sturdy enough to endure all the mako still sticking to his skin.

In the meantime, Cloud drifted between conscious and unconscious so much that it messed up quite some with Sephiroth's anxiety. Genesis told him to have hot chocolate and breathe some fresh air. He could handle that.

So Sephiroth sat on the balcony, wing resting by his side. Hot chocolate mug in his hands, but running cold and his stomach in knots.

The cat inside the box had been more dead than alive.

So Cloud didn't try to kill him.

Instead, he had stared up a little once he collapsed against Sephiroth; a confused, yet terrified glance.

Sephiroth wondered why that was, aside from all the obvious possibilities.

He heard scissors clicking and snipping away gently after a while and focused on that for a bit, instead of considering what would come afterwards.

After all, he never knew what would come next when it came to Cloud. He thought he would probably never know.

Maybe he would wake up in the middle of the night with a sword against his throat. Genesis had kept the Buster Sword. It had been restored, out of respect, to appear as new as possible, as if it had been almost never used. (As it should've been.) It was an easily accessible weapon.

It would be quite funny to die once again at the sharp end of  _ that _ blade.

Maybe he would see Angeal this time. Maybe Angeal would laugh at him.

He missed Angeal.

The house was quiet enough that Sephiroth heard Genesis swearing quietly at Cloud almost collapsing out of his seat. He sighed and tried to take a sip. Hot chocolate tasted weird when cold. Not unpleasant, but not as intended. Even less so when it had already been cold before. Warming such a thing up twice… yes, definitely not as intended.

Bringing Cloud back up to speed… would it feel weird as well? He wondered.

Regardless, the scissors had fully stopped. A little while more, and Genesis went to the balcony as well, sitting by Sephiroth's right side and dropping his head against his shoulder with a tired little noise. He took the mug without even asking and drank from it.

"Oh, Goddess, this tastes awful," he complained. An over exaggeration.

"It was you who made it," Sephiroth reminded him. Wrapped his wing around him properly.

"Well, you got me. So next time, you make it. Don't forget to put in extra marshmallows for me."

There was a little smirk in there that Sephiroth could practically  _ hear _ within the words. He took the mug back, swallowing whatever remained of the drink.

"Ugh, gross," Genesis chuckled a little, "I can't believe you can take all of that in."

"And I'd take much more. How's Cloud?"

"Sleeping like a log. He doesn't seem to be in immediate danger, it's just… the mako. He's been soaking in that for Gaia knows how many years. It's a wonder he didn't just slip right into a fatal case of mako poisoning."

Sephiroth hummed softly at that; tried to disperse the mental image of the abandoned laboratory from his head once again, but thought of the look Cloud gave him instead.

A wing, not unlike his own, settled around him.

“And how are  _ you?” _ asked Genesis, “You didn’t look alright back there. And don’t try to pretend you weren’t. It was written all over your face.”

“I’m fine.”

His hands were trembling a little.

“Now, that’s bullshit and we both know it. You… you can talk, you know? It’s not the Shinra days anymore. I won’t judge you, promise.”

Sephiroth arched an eyebrow at that, but took on the offer, regardless.

“I—… It’s not just because of the laboratory. I think… the best way to put it is that I feel at a loss of what to do next. I don’t want to burden you with unnecessary trouble in case he—”

“Oh,  _ please. _ You know I see no issue with that. Consider it an exchange for all I’ve done. Besides… I guess it can make the house more lively?”

That much stole a nervous chuckle in response.

“Lively,” Sephiroth repeated, “A possible fight to death in the living room. Only you could say that.”

_ And maybe Zack, _ he thought. But Zack wasn’t alive anymore to have a say on that, nor he would possibly enjoy the idea of Cloud having to battle to death.

“As if I would allow anyone to drop dead in my living room. Especially you.”

Sephiroth chanced a glance at him. A Genesis who had built that towering house against the cliffs all by himself, somehow, after designing the whole thing; a house resting atop a greenhouse and a garage, as if it was some sort of fancy bird nest on a tree. Someone who had left before and who had spoken false truths about Sephiroth’s origin.

Someone who was just an interesting choice of roommate, now.

“...I guess you wouldn’t, right.”

“But you’re afraid, anyway.”

“I… yes. How am I supposed to deal with him after all I did?”

“The way I dealt with you?” Genesis offered.

And maybe that was the best approach to that whole situation.

* * *

Sephiroth had unpleasant dreams.

He was in his bed, sharing the room with an unconscious Cloud due to the lack of a guest room, — he had taken the only one available when he started living with Genesis — but he couldn’t move his body at all.

The sensation of something or someone getting closer to him in the darkness was overwhelming, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. His mouth wouldn’t open, wouldn’t even allow him to cry out for help.

Whoever or whatever that was, they straddled his hips and seized his neck in a strong grip. Started pressing hard on it while coming properly into view.

_ Cloud— _

_ Cloud was— _

Sephiroth woke up panting, only to realize that even then, there was someone straddling his hips, though the hands weren’t on his neck as they were in the dream. He moved a little to look up at the figure.

His gaze met a glowing, confused blue.


	3. Avoidance and Confrontation (Uniforms)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sephiroth tries to dodge someone he ultimately can't avoid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm feeling a lil potato today so this has a great total of zero editing. I hope it's still ok, though!

Sephiroth didn't even know what time it was, but he knocked on the door, anyway. Out of sheer discomfort, too haunted by his demons to just go back to sleep in the current state of the room.

He didn't  _ trust _ himself to stay in that room.

And Genesis, as light sleeper as he was, opened the door in less than a minute, not even bothering with putting on a robe or something as he would usually do, were the circumstances to be any different.

"Seph… it's half past three…"

Being a light sleeper and quick to open the door did not, however, mean he was quick to proper function aside from basic, mostly automatic actions.

His auburn hair, Sephiroth noticed despite his own fright, was slipping out of his braid here and there. A light, but messy sleeper.

"Cloud woke up."

There was a very noticeable shift in Genesis. Almost as if someone had slapped him really hard on the face with a fish. He suddenly looked very awake, quite worried.

"...Are you ok? Anything else happened?"

"What _ are you?" Cloud had asked him, sitting on his lap to pin him down under his own weight. _

_ Sephiroth had tilted his head a little in confusion. _

_ "Where are we? Are we dead? Are we  _ finally _ fucking dead?" _

_ "Cloud, I— No, we aren't—" _

_ "We have to be! The Planet was falling apart, it was just us. You did something! You finally— You killed us both… asshole." _

_ Sephiroth stared at him. Cloud stared back, eyes burning in a cold blue that glowed like two dangerous stars. There was something wrong with his gaze. Not the gaze of the person who killed him three times before intervention came dressed in pink. _

_ No. It was something like the stories that the foot soldiers told each other around campfires during the war; the gaze of someone who had seen hell without a dignified death at the end. _

_ It shook Sephiroth unlike anything else. _

"No," Sephiroth said but hesitated, "He just—… He… Listen. Can I sleep with you? I… can't go back there. Can't sleep there."

The way his voice tightened up a little at that kept Genesis from questioning further, from making a flirty comment as he would usually do. He brought Sephiroth inside his room and closed the door behind them.

* * *

Genesis realized, after the third day of Sephiroth somehow completely dodging the absolute cannonball that was Cloud Strife, that he would have to deal with the drama and fear and anger himself.

He thought it would be a bit like dealing with Sephiroth as he had. Address the matter that his roommate couldn’t bring himself to address just yet. It couldn’t be so hard when it was him talking to Cloud, he considered. All the damage Genesis had ever caused him had been indirect and the last time they met wasn’t even that significant. Cloud had been just an infantryman.

He brought Cloud over to the balcony. Got him tea. Made sure Cloud was, at the very least, physically comfortable. Then he started talking.

And Cloud remarked on how the world wasn’t supposed to be this green anymore. That there was just no way, because Gaia had eaten itself inside out due to the things Shinra did and the collateral effects of Jenova and Sephiroth being around and returning, time after time again.

It sounded eerie and Genesis understood, sipping his own tea a little concerned with that epiphany.

* * *

“You’re really not using your uniform anymore,” Cloud said, so suddenly and so noticeable in the otherwise quiet greenhouse that Sephiroth almost jumped out of his skin in fright, “And… you’re afraid of me.” He chuckled. “Holy shit, he was  _ right.” _

Sephiroth tried his best to pretend he hadn’t just reacted the way he did. An inconvenient habit that Genesis pointed out to him a lot, but that he couldn’t seem to drop. Hiding. Dodging concerns whenever possible.

“Genesis talked to you.” He noticed.

“He got tired of lending the room, I think.”

“No. He got tired of this,” Sephiroth said, gesturing between the two of them. “I apologize for that. I didn’t know how to deal with—”

“What you’ve done to some other, poor Cloud, I get it. I get it. My Sephiroth did all of that and worse things to me, too. But he stayed corrupted to the end. You… feel fear. And can talk without grinning or laughing or mocking me. And you don’t wear the uniform. It’s weird.”

Sephiroth blinked slowly, processing all of that.

“So. What I’m to take from this is that you somehow come from the future or…?”

“No, I looked through the recent newspapers. It should be more or less the same time. Parallel universe is a better term.”

“Oh.”

That meant one thing. That the Cloud he had known was dead and another one, who was supposed to have died elsewhere, came to life in his body. It was… an odd concept, Sephiroth thought. One that would probably have distracted Hojo’s unwanted attention from him, back in the days of white coats and mako baths.

He didn’t know how to deal with that, yet. It was something he  _ definitely _ hadn’t been ready to handle.

“So, why did you stop?” Cloud asked. “Wearing the uniform, I mean. Genesis said you still had it intact when he found you.”

Sephiroth looked at him, then hummed a little.

“It reminds me of Shinra and Jenova. People in villages get a little too afraid because it doesn’t match the current fashion, too. Not a good look when you’re trying to sell things, I was told.”

Cloud curiously wandered towards the vegetables with a quiet little noise of acknowledgement. Considered the tomatoes and the turnips. He hadn’t been briefed much about that, or about the garage they had on the ground level. Genesis told him to look for Sephiroth and ask him about all of that and more that they hadn’t talked about.

“About that… I think I need to catch up on what you two do and how this world works. He didn’t tell me everything.”

“Help with the plants and I can tell?” Sephiroth offered, despite still being weirded out by how surreal their current situation was.

“Yeah, I can do that.”


	4. Peace (Free Day)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the boys gets to chill.

It was a slow process.

Mostly because both of them were awkward messes who were only making progress at talking out their issues because Genesis kept giving them pushes. Soft pushes, like excusing himself to do something on his lonesome, to leave them alone with each other. Hard pushes, like outright telling them to deal with it already. Teasing, borderline sassy pushes that left Sephiroth mortified and red in the face and made Cloud chuckle in ways that actually made Genesis want to pinch his cheeks.

Both of them had questions about each other’s life that neither had the answers to and could only speculate about.

“But wait,” Cloud had asked, “when you came back, were you, uh… the ‘stabby happy’ you or did the Lifestream spit you out alright?”

“‘Stabby happy’...” Sephiroth repeated with a hint of laughter. “I… I’m not sure, to be frank, now that I think about it. I remember waking up here as I am, perfectly lucid.”

“Maybe Genesis slapped some sense into you?”

“Hn. Maybe.”

He wondered how it was when Genesis had sense slapped into him as well. However, Sephiroth decided himself against asking such a thing. Maybe he was better not knowing what that felt like.

Maybe what was better for him at the moment was introducing Cloud to the fine art of treating the pelts they got from hunting all the monsters that threatened the nearby villages. Better to hear Cloud’s speculation on why the greenhouse was the floor in the middle; that it was probably so any smells from the garage wouldn’t reach them in the house.

Much better to hear Cloud cursing the multiple staircases under his breath.

“The house is amazing, but it should have an elevator,” he mumbled. Even though his multiple unwanted adventures with science made him very claustrophobic.

It was a strange sort of peace, one that made Sephiroth smile.

* * *

Genesis kicked him back to his room.

Which was, fair enough, a very reasonable thing. He could coexist with Cloud without either of them pulling out a sword or other weapon and starting a deathmatch in the middle of the living room as Sephiroth had once feared. And that was Sephiroth’s room before it was Cloud’s, anyway. Genesis suggested kicking him to the couch, mostly joking.

He knew Sephiroth wouldn’t have the heart to do that.

What he didn’t know was that Sephiroth would take the couch himself and pretend he was just watching the movie that was passing on the TV that late at night.

And, well. Sephiroth himself didn’t know that Cloud would choose to join him in that ordeal.

So both of them sat there with a bowl of chocolate cookies between them and pretended to be interested in Loveless of all things. Why was it always Loveless, even after all that time? After the civilization in Gaia changed so much to the point of the ruins of Midgar becoming a taboo topic, a forbidden place? Why was Loveless still a beloved cultural hit?

Sephiroth had many questions, but didn’t ask them. He simply speculated.

And Cloud… stayed quiet in his corner, honestly watching it and stealing an occasional cookie or two from the bowl.

Neither of them let Genesis know that Loveless was on TV.

Not out of rudeness, of course. It was just that Sephiroth had longed for the peace of being able to sleep somewhere he could randomly wake up without bothering others, in case he had another nightmare. And Genesis wouldn’t keep so quiet watching that. Either that or he would beg others to be quiet while sobbing into a bunch of tissues.

No. It was better to let Genesis rest.

At the very least, there would be no “audience” for the moment when Cloud reached for the bowl and awkwardly bumped his hand against Sephiroth’s instead. So Sephiroth could lock his gaze with Cloud’s intense blue one without saying a word about that and offer a cookie with a relaxed expression.

It was still… odd, to be around Cloud like that, fully lucid and without crossing swords. An odd and a slow process, but a strangely pleasant one.

And if he had to dodge Genesis’ teasing looks through the next morning after waking up to find that Cloud had fallen asleep on the couch against his shoulder at some point of that night… well, then so be it.


	5. Longing (Addiction)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sephiroth is caught staring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A veeeeery short chapter, I know, but also one that contains one of my favorite lines ever. So I'm pleased ´v`

Sephiroth watched him.

That much alone, Cloud was definitely used to. He had long since had his share of being sought by Sephiroth; one who gave nothing but cruel smiles, who laced every single promise with a threat upon Cloud’s well-being. Never killing, only hurting and drinking in the sweet, sweet despair. Only going in for the thrill of the chase and refusing to stay put. Addicted to his suffering.

What he wasn’t used to was a Sephiroth who averted his gaze if he was at the risk of being caught staring. That was as weird as… well. Everything else. But it was probably the thing that would get Cloud off-guard every time and would remind him that he was no longer in his own Gaia, the one that saw Sephiroth return endlessly until there was nothing else but death. He was on the Gaia where Sephiroth stayed dead. Well, until recent times, at least. The Gaia that healed and flourished.

It was a different sort of fixation. It had to be, different as it felt from the sheer addiction for his attention that the Sephiroth he previously knew demonstrated.

But Cloud, with as much of his years lost to time as he was, couldn’t come to a satisfying answer to why that was. And asking directly felt like confronting the issue and, from what he knew of Sephiroth, probably forcing him a little more into his own shell. Prompting him to hide his behaviors.

So Cloud did the next best thing. He invited Genesis to hunt. Left Sephiroth to tend to the other tasks he had to do.

He mused at how quickly he managed to fit himself into their routine in the last few months of being there. How fast he learned tricks like rubbing fruits against pelts to make them smell fresh and more attractive to potential buyers.

How to get himself to focus on the battle and not how absolute mesmerizing Genesis’ spellwork felt to watch.

“You know what’s up with Sephiroth?”

Genesis gave him a confused look, complete with a raised eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“He keeps looking at me when he thinks I’m not looking? I… Hm. If it wasn’t  _ this _ Sephiroth, I’d say it’s creepy.”

“Oh dear… that...” He sighed, but the confusion on his face dissolved. It was replaced by glee and a smirk. “Oh, you naive darling. I think he might be in love.”

Cloud’s cheeks immediately became a lovely pink. Delightful enough that it made the glee in Genesis look more like a threat.

“Did… did he tell you anything...?”

“Hm, no. But whenever he opens his mouth, he tends to mention you. He tends to care a lot about what you say, you know. You should try talking to him. Or better yet, try kissing him without warning.”

_ Kiss him for me, _ he wanted to say,  _ for I cannot. _

Instead, Genesis took in the lovely sight of Cloud turning a darker shade of pink and looked at the bright side of it.

Sephiroth would be so happy.


	6. Sunset Surprise (Otherworldly)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sephiroth does something unexpected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't really expecting to make the fic suddenly into SGC, but it just happened. Whoopsie.
> 
> Apologies to those who expected Sefikura only here q w q;;
> 
> Also it's so wild because I think it's the first time I ever wrote the three of them together like this? I think I'll just blame Genesis for the unexpected direction it took.
> 
> I hope it's still enjoyable though ; v ;

Cloud kept thinking about Genesis words to him.

 _Try kissing him without warning,_ playing in a loop in his head, every time Sephiroth was in close proximity. Every time he felt those eyes on his back, watching him, claiming without claiming, while all Cloud was trying to do was tying his own hair in a ponytail.

He kept getting flustered about it and Sephiroth apparently noticed, for he started taking extra care not to stare as much or coming across as if he was crossing lines that were dangerous to cross; too worried he might hurt Cloud if he touched him wrong.

But that had the side effect of him leaning more towards Genesis.

And Genesis, Cloud noticed, leaned towards crossing those lines that both Sephiroth and he were avoiding crossing, even if he intended otherwise. To the point were Sephiroth just leaned away and stayed on his lonesome a little more.

It was a bit frustrating to deal with.

Sephiroth sat quietly on the balcony and tended to his own feathers. Never asking for help, for more reasons than his regular behavior. The end of the afternoon cast pure gold light upon him, making his unusual silver hair appear as if it was glowing with warmth. His feathers were fluffed and he looked like he would be extremely pleasant for anyone to cuddle with.

Genesis let out an exasperated sigh.

It meant a number of things, Cloud could tell, from having learned how to read him from his time living there. But mostly, it evoked a feeling of _look at this gorgeous bastard, Cloud. Do something about it already or I will and you won’t like it._

And Cloud was looking, alright. However, that didn’t mean he had the guts to do something about that. If anything, a little part of him kept hoping Genesis would do something of his own instead, so he didn’t need to do anything but watch his two, out-of-that-Gaia hot roommates making out or something. Which, in all honesty, had him arriving at a realization that made him feel a little dumb for not noticing before.

He found Genesis beautiful and pleasant to be around, despite all the dramatics.

But even that wasn’t enough for him to do something other than being all flustered and frozen in place; appreciating the warm sight of the balcony and feeling a bit too hot due to the presence by his side.

Genesis sighed again, a little more dramatic.

It made Sephiroth turn, confused expression on his face and everything.

“What’s it?”

The way Genesis held Cloud by his shoulders, pulling him to the front as if he was a shield, didn’t help his case much. Those hands which were strengthened through time from natural means and from forbidden things from across the stars…

And alright, he needed to stop listening to Genesis reading poetry aloud. It was starting to do some peculiar things to his brain.

“Cloud wants to kiss you!” He happily announced, not losing even a beat to think better about that.

Sephiroth became a lovely shade of pink at that.

Cloud realized then, that he wasn’t beautiful just because of his unusual, alien inherited genes. It was because of the way he carried himself, of the sheer human emotion flourishing so easily on his face whenever he wasn’t quite ready to try to hide himself. Because instead of fighting a lack of guts to do it like Cloud was doing, he rose from his spot to finally do something, but even so there was a little anxious trembling to his hands before they could rest on Cloud’s cheeks and… oh. _Oh._

It was so good that Cloud melted right into it, to the point he didn’t even notice the moment when Genesis pulled him properly onto his lap like an oversized chocobo plushie. An oversized and _very flustered_ chocobo plushie.

And when that was done with and Sephiroth let him breath with such a soft smile on his face, full of fondness, care and out of air himself, Cloud thought he would die on the spot from that sight alone.

That was, until he noticed Sephiroth moving and unexpectedly got stuck between his two deadly gorgeous roommates who also shared a kiss themselves, in a move that surprised even Genesis.


	7. Re:birthday (Rebirth)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After coming up with a pleasant arrangement, the trio discuss the matter of Sephiroth's birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's a wrap, folks! Thanks for coming and special to those who stuck by after my hasty decision to make it an OT3 fic instead of just Sefikura! I've been reading the comments and being amused instead of knowing what to reply to them :'D <3

"What…?" Genesis asked, caught off guard enough that he was actually flustered himself, to add to their happy little pile of cherry faced men. "I thought you liked Cloud?"

"I… I do. Very much, so," He said that after pulling back a little to stare at Cloud and caress his cheek, just to make sure the sentiment behind the words came across properly. And  _ he _ accused Genesis of being a cheesy romantic. Unbelievable. "That, however, doesn't mean I'm incapable of… hn. Loving you."

Before that, Cloud had thought he would die from the sight of Sephiroth and from the feeling of being right in the middle of such an odd sandwich. But after what Sephiroth said, and the way his gaze went from him to Genesis… Cloud was almost sure he would perish from a lack of air, due to the arms around his waist tightening.

"I… c-can't breathe…" He warned.

"Oh! Sorry, darling, I didn't notice—"

"You… called me darling," Cloud cut in, now that he could breathe again. Turned just a bit to avoid looking much at Sephiroth, since that fondness on his face was doing  _ things _ to him.

"But I do that all the time!"

"It sounds different when it's right after Sephiroth here chooses to… uh, distribute kisses."

Despite how entertaining to watch their bickering was, Sephiroth had to interrupt them.

“So, is this acceptable?” They looked back at him, waiting for further elaboration. More Cloud than Genesis, who had been confused and surprised but not so lost in the feeling of it. “An arrangement between the three of us?”

“I… Goddess. Yes, it’s okay in my books. I just need to know if Cloud would be okay with—”

_ With me being present in this, _ he wanted to say, but was cut by Cloud taking action against his lips. Which, despite his apparent lack of experience, wasn’t a bad thing. But Genesis had to wonder why Cloud would do something in this case and not back when he was sighing dramatically, not to beg him to just go to Sephiroth already.

Alas, Cloud didn’t say anything after that. He just turned to Sephiroth with the color of a tomato and nodded quietly. Even with his boldness and the way he almost scared Sephiroth out of his skin, he still managed to simply be cute. It was impressive that the things that happened in his world, which he mentioned from time to time, didn’t manage to steal that from him.

“Can we… Can we have a toast to that?” Genesis offered.

“Of course,” said Sephiroth, almost purring out the words in teasing, “after I indulge in both of you a little more.”

At that, Cloud let out a little noise before being silenced again between giggles.

* * *

Sephiroth didn’t know when his birthday was.

He never did in his first life and had even less chance of knowing during his time of blind alliance with Jenova. Genesis never bothered him much with it during the time they knew each other out of a silent respect. Sephiroth just found many of the birthday party rites to be odd; didn’t know what one was supposed to do while they stood there and others sang them “happy birthday”. Didn’t quite understand why he should celebrate when he was who he was; expected to do things because it was his place to do them and never really rewarded or pampered for his feats. Those were just his obligations, after all.

He didn’t get balloons at all.

They were too noisy when they popped and very unkind on his enhancements.

The only thing he got was the cake. But even then, he didn’t quite understand why limit oneself to have such a sugary treat on only that one occasion.

He remembered that Angeal found his lack of interest in celebrating his existence a bit revolting. However, he didn’t force a party at the time. He made Sephiroth a little cake and gave him a pot of strawberries, to make his far too practical apartment a little more lively.

It had died a little after Zack came back from Modeoheim, regardless of how much Sephiroth tried to save it. A bit of cruel irony.

He didn’t know when his birthday was, but Cloud still remembered his own. And he celebrated it with them in a way that was comfortable. Genesis got Sephiroth to help him cook Cloud’s favorite things for lunch and dinner and they treated him to breakfast in bed.

They shared a cake with strawberries on top.

Sephiroth wanted to say he missed Angeal and his opinion on things like that. But he wouldn’t dare to ruin the moment with his nostalgic sadness.

But oh, well. Cloud had been as much revolted with his lack of birthday celebrations as Angeal had, when he finally found out. Which had been bound to happen.

“But we have to do something,” he was saying, “at least to celebrate you being alive and not stabbing innocent people. When is it?”

“I don’t have a date.”

“Godsdamn,” Cloud muttered under his breath, “Then we have to pick one.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Cloud—”

“But he’s right,” Genesis offered, “if you don’t have a date and you want to have one, then we should pick one.”

Sephiroth looked at them and sighed.

He never had been good at choosing days to do mundane things. He usually did them as necessity arose. Or when he had orders to do things. So bad at choosing for himself between things and people that even when it came down to dating, he ended up choosing the two people who were most important to him at the present moment instead of picking one and watching the other suffer. Which, in all honesty, had been important for him to realize that he loved both of them in his own ways instead of one more than the other. And Gaia, he had been very relieved that they easily agreed with that one choice of his. Even more relieved that they ended up being into one another as much as was into them.

It was Cloud who picked up the little furrowing of his brows and came up with an idea.

“What about the day of your… uh. Rebirth? You know, when you came back to the living.”

“I don’t know for certain when that was.”

Genesis chimed in.

“When I found you… it was late October. I think the 23rd?”

Cloud gave out a frustrated sigh, sinking a little more against Sephiroth’s shoulder in an attempt to find comfort for that ordeal.

“That was almost a week ago…”

“And?” Genesis didn’t seem to be challenged by that at all. “At least it wasn’t a month ago or something. We can still do something special. I can… prepare the bathtub,” he drawled, “and I can bake a cake… while using only an apron and nothing else.”

Cloud turned around so fast that it surprised Sephiroth a little. His cheeks were the kind of red that Sephiroth really liked to see on him.

“I thought it was to celebrate his birthday and not just an excuse for you to be a horny bastard?”

“It’s a way to celebrate it!” Genesis countered.

At that, Sephiroth started chuckling.

“I’m fine with it. As long as it’s as comfortable as Cloud’s birthday was. I don’t mind that it’s a week later.” He hummed a little. “I’m just glad to have the two of you worrying about my sake.”

Sephiroth still felt troubled by a lot, and didn't get a lot of other things as well. Still barely held himself up, much like the ruins of Midgar, when it came to past traumas. Still wondered sometimes how to best handle the parts of his past which overlapped with what Cloud had gone through.

But at the very least, he wasn’t alone.

Not anymore.


End file.
